WEC: Yacaman keeping busy with new racing opportunity

The long pause between June's 24 Hours of Le Mans and the next World Endurance Championship round at the Nurburgring on Aug. 30 has given drivers plenty of time to recover. For some, like G-DRIVE Racing's Gustavo Yacaman, the wait between races is a bit too long, and the curious Colombian has gone and found a new form of racing to sample.

"I got a chance to try rallying in the Rally America series this weekend," the Indy Lights-turned-WEC LMP2 driver told RACER. "It's really cool because it's something I've always wanted to do, and I've always wanted to be the kind of driver who can step into anything and race it right away."

Yacaman will drive a 2009 Honda Fit in the B Spec class with countryman Mauricio Toro as his co-pilot during this weekend's New England Forest Rally, and says he can't wait to give the front-wheel-drive car a go on dirt and gravel.

"I look at some pretty amazing drivers like Stephane Sarrazin and Simon Pagenaud – guys who jump into a rally car when they have a free weekend – and I know it can only help them when they go back to circuit racing. I want that same kind of experience to take back to the WEC," he explained. "And it should also be a lot of fun having the car moving around under you and needing to still hit your apexes and hit your marks. Doing something like this can only make you better."

Once he's done at the New England Forest Rally, Yacaman expect to look for other Rally America opportunities that fit within the WEC calendar.

"I want to get this first rally done before signing up for more, but I have a feeling I'll want to try more as time permits," he said. "Merchant Services really helped to make this happen for me, and so if this is a positive experience, I know I won't want to walk away from it as an option when I'm not racing or preparing for a WEC event."